A subtle paean to the art of biography. It is a biographical experiment, but a deeply humane and sensitive one. It glows with the energy of lives investigated, restored, reanimated and celebrated.
- Sarah Bakewell, Sunday Times
Here, he has given us the distilled essence of biography and a fitting end to what he evokes as "the comedy of life".
- Lisa Appignanesi, Observer
As is always the case with Holroyd, the reader comes away equally inspired, equally curious, and lavishly entertained by a story-teller of the first rank
Scotsman
A small gem of humanity, curiosity and observation with a wonderful, rolling undercurrent of comedy
Sunday Telegraph
Scintillating... Holroyd's book is a sly, inconclusive and utterly bewitching dance through the elusive narrative echoes that make up the biographer's art
Metro